By Bob Rouse

The Forbidden City

What a difference a good nights sleep makes. Our attitude today was totally different. After a nice breakfast it was off to discover Tienanmen square and The Forbidden City. We took the metro which is very simple to navigate. Unlike London’s tube network though there is no one day travel card option, you have to buy a single journey which costs 3¥ ( around 40p UK ). You can buy your ticket at the kiosk, ” just point to where you want to go on the tube map” or use the automatic ticket machines which have a English translation option.

Top Tipwhen using the metrobe mindful if you are on a time schedule. Because if you are are traveling at peat times, everyone entering the metro has to pass their bags through an airport style security scanner and the queues can get rather long. On arrival at Tienanmen Square we we confronted by another long queue because of yet another security check “Security is very tight in China”. Once inside The Forbidden City it was immediately apparent that all the hassle before hand was most definitely worth it. The complex covers a vast area and took us the whole day to explore. My activity tracker showed that we had took 28,275 steps totalling 12.9 miles over the day. THe Forbidden City is truly a amazing place. Entrance fees are very reasonable too whigh at time of travel was 40¥, which is around £5. Also I would recommend once inside visit the museum as some of the artifacts and intricate jewellery on display are stunning. This will cost you an extra 20¥ but like I said well worth it. When yo enter the city you have to enter the by the Meridian gate, which is where the ticket offices are, but I suggest that once you have explored the city, leave by the North Gate, walk across the road and enter Jingshan Park (small entrance fee) and if you have got the energy after a very busy day walk up to the Wanchun Pavillion to get a great view of the city from up high. A perfect end to a perfect day, we were certainly in the swing of things now.

Footnote

The Chinese don’t do queuing it’s just their way, so there is a little bumping and boring. There is no malice or anger involved, like I said it’s just their way. So stay calm and go with the flow.